Talking with Brendan Ravenhill
A conversation with lighting designer Brendan Ravenhill, about his Maine roots, online DIYers who restore French farms, where he finds inspiration, and about being a dad.
Brendan Ravenhill and I met through one of the early iterations of my old blog while he was still living on the East Coast. He now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Marjory, and their son, Ashley, who is seven.
We recently chatted about how he spends time on both coasts, what he and Ash like doing for fun, and how he sees things differently now that he’s a dad.
He also just released Pearl 4, the first light in his new Pearl family, and I’m in love with it. I didn’t think there was a way to update the classic globe lamp, but Brendan successfully has done so with this funky little half-circle/half-square globe.
I’m going to mention his floating sauna again because it’s that cool, and also this sleeping porch he built on a remote Maine island.
Lastly, a huge thank you to Madoka for the awesome photos (and amazing Japanese translation) and Marjory for making all of this happen!
Peace & Understanding
Brendan has always been surrounded by art and craft. He was born and raised in Côte d’Ivoire, West Africa, and moved to Washington, D.C. when his father became chief curator of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. His dad built the play structures for Brendan’s school in Abidjan! So it was early on that he learned to love and look for the art that exists in our daily lives from his dad, like the hand-painted barber shop signs or wooden stools put to everyday use, which he now has a dozen of in his home.
After studying sculpture at Oberlin, he led the design and construction of a timber-frame barn on his family’s property in coastal Maine. In 2006, he and his siblings founded Islesford Boatworks, a nonprofit summer boat-building program.
Brendan then decamped for Los Angeles, drawn by the thriving network of fabricators in Southern California, and established the Studio in 2010 to create lasting products that have meaning beyond aesthetics and trend.Â
Now that we’re both dads of similarly-aged sons, our talk revolved around dad life, as most conversations do once you become a parent. Hearing how he balances life and work was eye-opening since sometimes I have no idea what I’m doing. Hopefully, you find this as enlightening as I do. On to Brendan!
Tell us more about yourself and your creative background.Â
I am a maker. Over the years, I’ve worked as a carpenter, welder, and boatbuilder. I currently run a design studio in Los Angeles specializing in thoughtful artisanal lighting design.
What was your first job?
Camp counselor
How did you get into what you’re doing now?
By chance, I designed a bottle opener in grad school, leading to a restaurant design and us designing light fixtures, now our bread and butter.
What’s the project you’re most proud of?
Islesford Boatworks, the nonprofit boatbuilding program I helped start in 2006, and Ravenhill Studio, which was founded in 2010. That these two entities are still working and functioning is something I take great pride in.
Describe the process you go through to turn your ideas into reality.
Dream, draw, dream, draw, prototype, refine, initial production, document, refine again, document again, expand.
When did your passion for design/art start?
As a child with my parents. My dad was a museum curator and a weekend carpenter/artist. My church was museums and woodworking.
Who inspired you as a child?
My dad and all the artists and lobstermen I was exposed to every summer while living in Maine.
Where do you look to be inspired? Is it the same as before you became a parent?
In nature and maybe also now in Legos.
What’s something you did before becoming a dad that would be challenging to do now?
Find time for personal practice.
Describe a typical day.
Draw to start the day inspired. Put my head down to work- meetings/emails for the middle of the day. Finish afternoon in the shop building something, Friday no meetings. Build all day.
What are some of the things you enjoy doing together? Are they the same things you did as a child?
Drawing, legos, and building things. Yes.
What’s something you learned from your son?
Have a vision and be relentless in that pursuit.
What is your son obsessed with at the moment?
Bakugan, these transformers that roll into marbles
What is one place you would love to show Ash?
Ireland
What’s one of your favorite people, places, or things that is no longer around?
Ashley Bryan, my childhood hero, who lived on Islesford until he was 98, and inspired many in his lifetime with his books, poetry, and art.
What’s something you hope is different for your son from when you were his age?
More peace and understanding.
When’s a time you both really made each other laugh?
Sometimes we do Silly News in the mornings, where I pretend to run a radio station, playing all the roles in different voices, trying to make him laugh.
What’s the last great book you read? Are you reading anything at the moment?
Biography of Leonardo Da Vinci by Walter Isaacson. I’m currently reading Islands of Maine by Bill Caldwell
What’s your son’s favorite book?
Circus Ship by Chris Van DusenÂ
A question worth asking:
What does beauty mean to you?
A quote worth repeating:
Hard work beats talent when talent refuses to work hard.
A piece of advice worth passing on:
Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without.
Share a rabbit hole you fell deeply into.
I fell into the fascinating community of online DIYers who restore French farms or rebuild wooden sloops. But the one I really fell in love with was a Russian YouTuber who spends his summer building log cabins and waterwheels to power a sawmill and mill flour.Â
Is there a product you can’t live without?
Pen and paper
Share any five links:
IslesfordBoatworks.org
RavenhillStudio.com
YouTube.com/@Advoko
BartsBooksOjai.com
Jonesport-Wood.com/HullsCove.html
